"It's one thing to steal from us, everybody gets on hard times," Garcia said. "But this is a dead man trying to get back to his family. He should've never done that and this community can never forgive you."

While police continue to search for the suspect, VanAllman's friends are still hoping to get him home to his final resting place.

"I would still really like to see Brad get home, and I'm not sure how we're going to do that but one way or another I'll like to see it done," Teryl Garcia said.